Beyond the Mix: Chilled Hip Hop & Neo Soul Mix #41
A behind the scenes look at how I craft my mixes
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The Making of
2025 has got off to an absolutely flying start…
Between now and January I’ve recorded a guest mix for Emotional Oranges (LA), a guest mix for Flawless Delivery (Germany), released a J Dilla tribute mix, done two radio shows on Voices Radio, one on Brixton Radio, performed with the Five Points Family, recorded a set at Cafe 1001 and then hopped over to the New York to perform a 5 hour set and record 2 additional sets over there!
We been active.
This one was a long time coming but as you can see above, I’ve been going hard! I must stress that this has all happened independently. I’m not signed, I don’t have an agent and I have rent and bills to pay. This all means that these mixes will sometimes take a bit longer to come out in order to preserve and keep the quality in tact.
Throughout all of this though, I was doing my usual stacking of tracks in preparation for this mix. I had initially planned for it to come out earlier in the year but the timing did not feel right and I knew it would be a rush to get done. My goal was to drop it before I went to New York, which felt like the right time to release it into the world.
I had so many tracks I wanted to play and was happy to see some of my favourite producers and musicians dropping a lot more music in the run up to this mix. Sometimes you catch your favourites on a hot streak and end up including several of one producer’s tracks, other times they have more of a barren spell. I like the eb and flow of this as it keeps each mix different.
On a side note, really appreciate the love on the latest Soulful House mix. We’re at nearly 250K views on that one in just a few months. Mad thankful to you all for tuning in, it’s really a blessing.
Piecing It Together
I really wanted to dip into the old school neo soul feel with this mix. I think part of that is because I’ve been recently inspired by threetwenty’s new stuff and sadly, I recorded this mix before I made the discovery. There’s no threetwenty in this mix but best believe there’ll be plenty of their stuff in future mixes I’m sure.
After hearing a bit of their music, I was doing some digging and came across the Don-E track ‘So Cold’ and knew I wanted to build around this track. So included a cut of D’Angelo and a new Akili Ni Mali track that’s been on repeat recently. This is probably my favourite pocket in this mix and you can probably see it in the video.
*Pick of the Mix - Thank God – KOS*
I’m not sure how many times I repeated this track before I even thought about putting in a mix… This one spoke to me in some higher ways. I listened to it day to day, on my runs and it even inspired me to produce a track. This is what its about though, those rare and underground finds! Close second was was ‘Blue Sheets’ by Tall Black Guy - A classic neck snapper! And also ‘LIGHTWORK’ by Hue Sound
Some very honourable mentions need to be made as well. In particular, the Common and Pete Rock link up on ‘Dreamin’, the old school flavour on Kofi Stone’s ‘AMAGOH', ‘Menace’ by Paul Grant & Parisalexa and also ‘Walk A Mile’ by ZVK. I wasn’t sure how I was going to end the mix, I knew I wanted to include the beautiful ‘FireFly’ track by Goya Gumbani and Fatima but I hadn’t yet played it. So in the end, I placed it at the end of the mix.
Overall really enjoyed this one and I’m always very thankful to see and hear all the amazing feedback on the mix. The feeling of discovery and of putting people on is still undefeated. I’ve just been feeling very inspired of late to try and create not for any gain but more just for my own sanity. I’ve read a lot recently that the ability to create for yourself without external validation is the true wealth. I’m trying to hold on to this with everything I do.
I find I usually enjoy listening to new mixes I’ve dropped after some time has passed – gives it some space to breathe. A few weeks down the line from its release and I must say, I’m enjoying listening to #41. I think its especially more poignant after the NYC trip (they’ll be a lengthy recap on that trip to follow…)
It was great to connect with fans and listeners and speak at length in person about this mix. I think going forward, I’ll keep this experience in mind when piecing together new mixes because it really helps remind me why I do this.
Much love,
Raph
If you didn’t know already…
🚨 SOUL THERAPY 🚨
// DATE: Thursday 19th June
// TIME: 6pm–11pm
// LOCATION: The BBE Store, Arch 376, 10 Helmsley Pl, London E8 3SB
// TICKETS: Free Entry
If you're a fan of my soulful afro house mixes, this one will most definitely be for you...
My friend Esther and I connected last year thanks to the homie Val over our shared love of SA producer Artwork Sounds and purpose behind the music we play. So we thought–why not join forces? We wanted to bring like minded people together through what we call ‘Soul Therapy’.
With this in mind, we are beyond excited to announce a brand new event called Soul Therapy taking place at the world famous BBE Store in London on Thursday 19th June at 6-11pm. Soul Therapy is an experience dedicated to the uplifting and healing powers of deep, soulful and afro house music. We’ve assembled a group of four exceptional selectors known for their deep passion for rhythm and melody: esthahh bussssssssssa deejaycheza and yours truly, to take you on a journey.
Rooted in the uplifting and emotive qualities of house music, the event will evoke a sense of unity, joy, and rhythm, taking attendees on a transcendent journey from the first beat to the last drop. We can’t wait to go deep with this one! Tickets are free and you can RSVP HERE
We express our thanks to Kwame, The Music Suite and The BBE Store for making this happen. Esther, Kwame and I have been working away at this one for a while now and we can’t wait to bring the vision to life!
Spread the word! ⚡
See you deya
LOVE